


More Than She Bargained For

by al_holland



Category: Naruto
Genre: Banter, Bisexuality, F/M, Flirting, Fluff, Fluff and Humor, Friends to Lovers, Gossip, Humor, Implied Relationships, Jealousy, M/M, Past Kakashi/Genma, Past Kakashi/Yamato, Past Relationship(s), Romance, Teasing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-05
Updated: 2021-03-05
Packaged: 2021-03-18 16:29:21
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,104
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29860896
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/al_holland/pseuds/al_holland
Summary: At first, she had written it off as idle gossip. Kakashi was the most mysterious of men, even amongst ninja, and it was only natural that people would talk. Mysterious, strong, (allegedly) handsome, and the Hokage? He was grade-A scandal silage.-Sakura snoops around Konoha's rumour mill and learns some fascinating things about Kakashi.
Relationships: Haruno Sakura/Hatake Kakashi
Comments: 25
Kudos: 90





	More Than She Bargained For

**Author's Note:**

  * For [bluntkunai](https://archiveofourown.org/users/bluntkunai/gifts).



> for gracia who always brings the kakashi thirst-traps n grade-A prompts to the table. thank u for being wonderful i hope i have done flagrantly bisexual kakashi justice
> 
> this is not smut! rated M for subject matter, but there is nothing explicit. enjoy!!

The Konoha rumour mill was truly unparalleled. One would expect shinobi to keep better secrets, but when it came down to it, the thirst for gossip far outweighed the desire to keep secrets hidden. There were exceptions, of course; as with anything. And if ever an exception were to exist, Sakura would have thought that it would have lied with one Hatake Kakashi.

How wrong she was.

As it turned out, her old sensei was quite popular amid the mill; rumours about him seemed to pass through the grapevine with the fluidity of water. Quite the coincidence, she learned, because he appeared to also be as fluid as water.

At first, she had written it off as idle gossip. Kakashi was the most mysterious of men, even amongst ninja, and it was only natural that people would talk. Mysterious, strong, (allegedly) handsome, and the Hokage? He was grade-A scandal silage. Gods knew _she_ had a taste for speculating into the finer details of his life. Usually, though, those speculations ran more along the lines of “how many masked shirts does he actually own?” or “does he have a whole bookshelf dedicated to Icha Icha?”

Not once did she ever wonder who kept him warm at night.

Okay, _never_ was a stretch. She had pondered the possibilities that Kakashi might have a partner, or at least a friend to share his morning coffee with, but her mind had never ventured into the intimate details. Not consciously, anyway. She had mostly been concerned that he was an anti-social hermit—and for all intents and purposes, he was.

He just also happened to be a bit of a slut, it turned out.

At some point, she had to acknowledge that the rumours of his coupling were simply all too similar for there to be _no_ truth in the matter. She had ignored it as long as possible, but ANBU really were _terrible_ gossips, and Hokage gossip was cream of the crop. No one could honestly blame her for succumbing to the allure of it. Still, sometimes it was all a bit ridiculous; she had to sift through some muck before she struck gold.

“I heard he casts a genjutsu over the entrance of his house so you never actually see who’s coming and going,” Bear said in a sing-song, her red hair swaying as she tilted her head to and fro.

“Have you ever been stationed outside of his house?” Sakura asked.

“Yeah, all the time,” she answered.

“And aren’t you a genjutsu expert?” Sakura continued, deadpanned.

“Well…yeah,” she said in defeat. Badger chuckled quietly at her side.

“Hokage-sama has his watch-dog on the prowl, I see,” he said, nudging her with an elbow. “But take it from me, Foxy-chan,” he aptly ducked around the fist she sent flying toward his face, “it’s not _his_ back that needs watching.” Sakura felt her mouth go dry at that. Bear had brought the muck, but Badger had a pocketful of gold, apparently.

“Oh?” Bear asked, her amusement audible in that one telling syllable. “Hokage-sama is as diligent in private as he is in public, I presume?”

“Is he as stingy with your back as he is with his wallet?” Sakura grumbled. Badger chuckled.

“Sorry, Foxy—I don’t kiss and tell,” he chided. Sakura pouted behind her mask, ready to tell him it wasn’t the _kissing_ she was interested in, but then senbon were flying and she had bigger concerns than who was looking at whom and _why_. Badger was a shameless flirt and tease, and she wouldn’t have been surprised if this had all just been some ruse to get a rise out of her.

Well, it was working. Her heart rate was way up and it had nothing to do with the blows she was coming to with enemy nin. Still, something in the arrogance in his voice told her he wasn’t messing around. _Kakashi and Genma_ , she thought. What an idea.

For his sake, she really hoped he wasn’t messing with her. She would find out for sure, one way or another. She would have to wait until they were back in Konoha, though, because he was not likely to let something slip with Bear around.

* * *

As per mission tradition, she found herself shooting back one drink after another at the Rusty Kunai, standing shoulder to shoulder at the bar beside Genma. If he had any suspicions about her true motives, he hadn’t let it be known. That smug smirk that tugged at his lips _could_ have meant he knew exactly what she was up to, but it also happened to be Genma’s default expression.

Some people had resting bitch face; Genma had resting flirt face. With that in mind, she couldn’t say she was surprised that he had fallen into bed with Kakashi.

“Alright, Pinky, why don’t you just get it off your chest before you drink me into a stupor?” Genma asked with a slight slur and a chuckle. She felt her alcohol-induced red cheeks redden further. So much for him not having any suspicions.

“I don’t know what you mean,” she said even though they both knew she was full of shit.

“You wanna know the dirty on dear old sensei,” he said, smirking at her. She had half a mind to spear his tongue with that senbon at his lips. “Come on,” he goaded, “admit you’re curious and I’ll tell you everything you wanna know.” She scowled at him. He knew she hated relenting, but he also knew she was _dying_ to know. Get her information at the cost of admitting to Genma that _he was right_? It was almost unthinkable. _Almost_.

“Fine,” she relented “I am morbidly curious about what may or may not have taken place between you and Kakashi-sensei.” His arrogant face made her seethe with irritation, which only served to make him more self-satisfied. When her fists clenched at her side he laughed but lost the smirk—as much as he could, anyway.

“Hot for teacher, Candy-chan?” _Maybe a little_ , she could admit to herself. She would _not_ admit that to Genma.

“I will hurt you. Badly.”

“Funny, that’s what Kakashi said too,” he said with a wink and a deft step to the side to dodge the empty bottle she swung at his head. He took one look at her face and erupted into raucous laughter that had heads turning in their direction. She was sure she must have made quite the sight, flushed in anger and shock, spluttering like a goldfish.

“You’re lying,” she said, even though she wasn’t entirely sure he was.

“Yeah, I’m lying,” he relented with a laugh and a condescending pat on her head. “Honestly,” he continued, his own cheeks tinged pink as he scratched the back of his head, “I don’t remember much of it. We were pretty hammered. But I _do_ remember him saying he was going to _fuck that stupid smile right off my face_.”

“And did he?” Sakura asked before she had the good sense to be embarrassed. The twinkle in Genma’s eye told her everything she needed to know.

She wondered vaguely what about her might invoke that same reaction in him.

* * *

She had tried to steer clear of the rumour mill after Genma had divulged his secrets. It had done her no good whatsoever to have that mental image—okay, it had done her _some_ good, but in the long run it really was a detriment. Making her mission report directly to Kakashi had proven difficult when her brain kept substituting the bored Hokage before her with whoever that man Genma had described was.

She had long since considered Kakashi a friend before anything else, but in the years they’d been friends, she had never seen that side of him. She wasn’t sure if she was relieved or offended. Maybe a bit of both.

“Is everything alright, Sakura?” Kakashi asked with his signature eye-crinkle in full effect. She knew he was asking as a formality. What he _really_ wanted to say was “what the hell are you staring at?” and “get out of my office so I can read porn”. Read or re-enact, she would ask. Or she would, if she had the gall to speak to him when all she could think about were the lewd words Genma had spoken to her.

“No, I just learned that you and Genma slept together and my life is ending,” she said.

Well, that’s what she’d wanted to say. What she _really_ said was, “yes, just a bit worn out. Long shift at the hospital.”

“Your last hospital shift was a week ago,” he pointed out, his grey eyes gleaming. She tried not to focus on that.

“Exactly. You can imagine just how tiring it really was,” she said with a long, wearied sigh.

“You need to unwind, Sakura-chan. Get those naughty kinks out in the open,” he said, that twinkle in his eye still going strong. She gawped at him.

“I—I beg your pardon? _What_ did you just say?” she demanded. He blinked at her slowly, eyebrows slowly raising high on his forehead.

“I said you should get the knots and kinks worked out of your shoulders…”

Of course, as were the laws of nature, the more she tried to avoid it, the quicker the gossip found her. Genma had taken a particularly keen interest in regaling her with the bits and pieces of his night with Kakashi that his memory had latched onto. The pieces were disjointed and sparse, but they were enough to make her ears and fury burn with equal fervour.

And _then_ he had let slip that he wasn’t the only one of her teammates that had had a foray with the Hokage. She had wanted to tell him to stop talking, that she absolutely did not want to know anymore than she already did, but then he had said it. _Yamato_.

Gods, help her. _Gods, help Genma_ because she was going to kill him for this.

Suddenly, all the doting on “senpai” and the Mokuton-made benches in the shade of a picturesque tree made so much sense.

The next time he had thrown up the seals and a Kakashi-length bench of wood appeared, Sakura had narrowed her eyes at her taichou in suspicion. His cheeks had gone pink as he awkwardly looked away from her, but she could tell that he knew she was onto him. That he was onto Kakashi, or at least _had_ been. On him? Under him? She really had no idea what Kakashi’s go-to moves were, but she imagined being with Yamato was quite different to being with Genma.

Why was she thinking about this? Why couldn’t she _stop_ thinking about it?

Of all the things she had expected to get out of nosing around in Konoha’s gossip scene, this was not one of the possibilities. She had definitely gotten more than she’d bargained for.

 _No_ , she told herself. _Genma was obviously messing with me_. He had seen how riled up it got her when she found out about him and Kakashi, and he figured he would take it a step further and implicate poor Yamato-taichou in this buffoonery. Dedicated, loyal, _sweet_ Yamato-taichou. He made benches because Kakashi was infinitely tired, not because he had been dicked down so good he couldn’t help but bend to Kakashi’s every whim.

Oh, gods, there it was again.

To distract herself from agonizing over it, she decided to reap the rewards Kakashi sowed. He smiled happily at her when she plopped her butt down in the grass, resting her back against the bench and craning her neck to peek at the pages of his book. He huffed out a laugh and lightly smacked the book down onto her forehead before moving it out of her line of sight.

She rolled her eyes but didn’t really mind, especially not when he used his free hand to lightly run his fingers through her hair. She wasn’t sure how long they stayed like that. She was pretty sure she’d dozed off at some point.

She had just gotten herself convinced that it was all a farce when another voice spoke to her from the too-loosely woven grapevine. This time, the voice had been undeniably vehement about the entanglement that had occurred between Kakashi and Yamato.

“Please, _please_ tell me Genma put you up to this,” Sakura said miserably, cradling her head in her hands.

“Genma? The fuck does Genma have to do with anything?” Anko asked, swiping Sakura’s beer bottle and downing the rest, even though it was more than halfway full. Sakura glared at her.

“Next time you poison a bunch of genin, I’m not doing shit to help you,” Sakura said before grabbing at Anko’s bottle. It was already empty. “How do you know about this, anyway?” Sakura asked glumly. It was unlike Kakashi to be so forthcoming with the details of his private life—with any details, really—and she couldn’t imagine Yamato had managed to stutter his way through the nitty-gritty to _Anko_ of all people.

“Sweet Yams has such loose lips when you give him just a _little_ bit of vodka,” Anko said with a quirked brow and a knowing smile. Sakura felt like there was more to that smile, but she was terrified to ask. _You’re already in this deep, might as well dunk your head in_ , she thought. “Just ask Kakashi,” Anko teased.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Sakura asked, trying hard not to care but finding that she actually cared quite a lot.

“It _means_ that sweet, little Yam-chop is the only person in this village with a tongue that can rival mine, Pinky.” Anko laughed, loudly and at length, at the face Sakura made. “Care for a test drive?” Anko asked with a lick of her lips and a wink.

Sakura paid her tab and went home. Of all the ways she had imagined Kakashi and Yamato—and against her better judgement, she had imagined quite a lot—that had not been her first guess. She tried to put it out of her mind, but it had only raised more questions. Had Kakashi returned the favour? She didn’t peg him for a selfish sort of lover.

She was feeling oddly competitive. The longer she thought about it the more she regretted not taking Anko up on that offer.

* * *

“Would you say that I know you better than most?” Sakura asked as she waltzed into his office, uninvited and unbothered.

“Yes,” he said without even looking up from the scroll he was perusing. She was satisfied with his unwavering agreement, yet still so _unsatisfied_ because knowing him better than most really wasn’t saying much. She squinted at the top of his head as he continued to go about his task, unperturbed by her intrusion.

After a long silence, he sighed and glanced up at her before leaning back in his seat and nodding at his desk. That was as close to an invitation as she was going to get, so she would just have to take it as it was. He didn’t bat an eye, even when she heard some of his paperwork crumple under her butt as she pushed herself onto his desk.

“Why are you concerned with knowing me better than most?” Kakashi asked in a tone that made her feel like she was being reprimanded.

“I wouldn’t call it a concern,” she said, mostly stalling for time. “I’ve just heard some…surprising things about you lately. Things I didn’t expect.” He didn’t seem particularly bothered by this news, which was frustrating for her, because she had been nothing _but_ bothered for the last week and a half.

“You shouldn’t believe everything you hear, Sakura-chan,” he said with a reassuring smile. She did not feel very reassured. Really, she was surprised it had taken her so long to come to this revelation about him. He regularly walked around with his nose buried in smut. “But, I’m curious about what’s got you so worked up that you had to come here and sit on my mission scrolls.”

Her face ignited. “Oh! It’s nothing really…” she said with an awkward giggle and a forced smile. His eyes were twinkling just a little too knowingly for her taste. “Actually, I do have one concern,” she continued, “for your wellbeing. When was the last time you went on a date?” she asked, hating herself as she said it. She was Haruno Sakura, brilliant medic and tactician, and that was the best she came up with? She ought to be demoted to genin. Kakashi simply raised one amused eyebrow up at her.

“I don’t go on dates,” he said innocently enough, but something in his attitude gave her pause. Maybe she was just overanalyzing these things, but she couldn’t help but think that perhaps her Hokage simply skipped the formalities and got straight to business. It certainly fell in line with how he conducted himself in his day-to-day dealings. “Being Hokage keeps me pretty busy,” he finished, his eyes crinkled in a pleasant smile.

“Not busy enough,” she grumbled. That silver eyebrow was arched again, as grey eyes pinned her down where she sat. She felt naked under that gaze.

“What was that?” he asked even though she knew he had heard her perfectly loud and clear.

“I said, how ‘bout a night off?” she said, putting on her biggest, brightest, most bullshitting grin. He didn’t buy it for a minute, but he went along with it. She appreciated that about him; he certainly knew how to pick his battles. That probably didn’t bode well for her for the future, but right now she was grateful.

“Are you asking me on a date, Sakura-chan?” he teased. Was she?

“No.” _Wasn’t she?_

“Sure,” he agreed; too easily for it to be a good thing, she thought. It was too late to back out now. He stood from his seat and placed a gloved hand on her bare knee, keeping his eyes locked on hers as he smiled behind his mask. “If you’ll excuse me, I’m scheduled for a thirty minute meeting that was set to start twenty-five minutes ago.” With one little squeeze, he was walking away.

“I’ll see you later!” she called out to him as he headed through the doors she’d left ajar on her way in. He threw up a two-fingered salute as he turned the corner.

She wasn’t entirely sure what she had hoped to accomplish with this impromptu visit, but she was pretty sure it had not been her initial goal to accidentally ask Kakashi out on a date. Curious that that had been her kneejerk reaction. Even more curious was the tingling his fingertips had left behind on her skin.

* * *

In the hours between leaving Kakashi’s office in a confused daze and walking back in, equally confused, it had dawned on her just what she had done. She had been telling herself that she didn’t want to know anything else about Kakashi’s private life, but who was she kidding? She was itching to get every little detail, no matter how shocking. If she was being _really_ honest, it was a bit of a rush to uncover pieces of his life.

And if she was brave enough to be as honest as possible, part of her was interested in seeing just what, exactly, it was like to be on the receiving end of _that_ Kakashi. The one that had Genma blushing and Yamato building benches for Kakashi to tag with henohenomoheji.

Thrilling, but annoying. She couldn’t shake the irritation she felt at being one of the last people to find out that _apparently_ Kakashi made a habit of canoodling with his comrades. She tried not to think about how he had never tried to canoodle with her, but it was too easy a leap to make, and really, why _hadn’t_ he? She was an attractive woman, if she did say so herself.

Whatever, it didn’t matter, she told herself. She didn’t need Kakashi to see her like that. Did she?

She pouted at her reflection in the full-length mirror in her bedroom. For someone who didn’t care she sure looked like she did. With an infuriated growl she tugged off the dress she’d put on and stepped back into her regular, day-to-day clothes.

Satisfied with how average she was looking, she headed out.

When she returned to the Hokage tower that evening, Kakashi had company in his office. She wasn’t sure what it said about her that she was completely unsurprised to see Kakashi leaning over his desk, smiling happily up at Iruka. What _did_ surprise her was the indignation she felt welling up in her chest.

“Thank you, Iruka-sensei,” Kakashi said lowly, his eyes creased in a warm smile as he stood at his desk to walk around it and place a firm hand on Iruka’s shoulder. She watched as Iruka’s ears and cheeks went pink as he stared at Kakashi with an awkward laugh at his lips.

“O-of course, Hokage-sama!” Iruka said through his tight laughter. “Um—I don’t suppose you’ve had dinner yet?”

“Hello, Iruka-sensei!” Sakura said loudly, her footsteps sounding suspiciously like stomps as she entered the office fully. Kakashi’s gaze flickered to her, his eyes dancing in amusement. She watched, mildly placated, as his hand fell from Iruka’s shoulder.

“Ah, there you are,” Kakashi said with a crinkly-eyed smile, “Sakura and I have plans,” he said to Iruka, “but if you’d like to join—”

“ _Bye, Iruka-sensei!_ ” Sakura said quickly, clasping her hand around Kakashi’s wrist and dragging him with her out of the office, leaving behind a very confused and dejected Iruka.

“That was quite rude, Sakura-chan,” Kakashi berated her as she tugged him along, though his reprimanding lost effectiveness with that laughing lilt in his voice. “Are you sure this isn’t a date?” he taunted.

“You wish, old man,” she said with a huff, but didn’t release her hold on his wrist. He just chuckled as he trailed along after her. If this _were_ a date, she couldn’t help but wonder what that would have entailed. Would he put the moves on her like he did with Yamato? She didn’t know the specifics of how that had come to pass, but she imagined it involved a lot of warm smiles and soft gazes.

It seemed more realistic that he would go the Genma route, though. She knew for a fact she could get under his skin. She was tempted to try it now, just to see if he might bequeath one of those sexy threats to her. She should have kept that dress on.

Gods, she was losing it.

In the time it took her to cycle through her irritation for Kakashi, and then her irritation for herself, Kakashi had slipped his wrist out of her iron grip. She wasn’t sure how he’d managed that, but it probably had something to do with the fact that she had been existing on a whole other plane of reality, only to be brought back by his hand curling around her waist and yanking her off course.

She grunted oh-so-delicately when she collided with his chest instead of the back of one very large food vendor. She felt her cheeks flush as she tilted her head back to look up at him. He had that stupid twinkly look in his eyes again. She scowled at him.

“Jeez, are you trying to knock me over?” she huffed, smacking her hand lightly against his chest and shaking herself out of his half-embrace. His eyebrows shot skyward but he kept his thoughts to himself. She was both grateful for, and infuriated by it. Instead of acknowledging her ridiculous emotions, she spun on her heel and went back the way they had just come, because while she had been lost in the whirlpool of her mind, she had coincidentally stalked straight past her favourite izakaya.

Kakashi, to his credit, said absolutely nothing about it and simply followed her in retracing their steps. She froze on her feet when she saw the long line that awaited them. She groaned loudly, smacking her hand against her forehead.

“Ah, interesting! There was no line when we passed it the first time,” he said with a bright smile. She glared at him and trudged over to stand in line for a table. Sakura’s mood was beyond sour, in small part due to her conflicting feelings toward Kakashi, and the most part due to her increasing hunger and the slow-moving line. Sakura was beginning to feel a little bad for giving Kakashi the silent treatment, and was about to tell him just that when he brushed his hand across her back and excused himself.

She watched with narrowed eyes as he moved through the line to speak to a young man behind the bar. All that guilt she’d felt promptly flew out of her with one loud, exasperated huff. He had some nerve! Here he was, out with her, and _ditching her_ to go over to the bar to flirt with some guy. In the moment, she hardly cared that she had sworn up and down that this was most definitely _not_ a date.

The longer she watched them, the angrier she grew. She was pretty sure there was steam pouring out of her ears. She decided to fix her gaze at the ground below her feet instead of the red ears and nervous smile of the man behind the bar. She was too hungry to consider that, perhaps, she really did want this to be a date after all.

A few minutes later, she watched as two familiar feet stepped into her line of sight. She looked up to see Kakashi’s happily creased eyes.

“Our table is ready,” he said as he offered his hand to her. She stared at it warily before deciding she was hungrier than she was annoyed. Besides, it felt pretty good to have the envious eyes on her back as she and Kakashi skipped ahead of all the waiting patrons. She found she was so pleased to be getting a table so quickly that she didn’t even mind that Kakashi had probably flirted his way to their seats. His charm was a dangerous power to possess, but at least he was using it to benefit her.

She was even more pleasantly surprised when a waiter swooped in to place two drinks on their table before she’d even finished kicking her shoes off to sit down. Kakashi chuckled at the surprised look on her face. She hid her warm cheeks behind her glass, taking long, slow sips until she felt the warmth of the rum in her cocktail replace the warmth of her embarrassment.

She had just picked up the menu when the waiter came back again, this time with a tray of small plates. He placed them down quickly, and Sakura took note as all her favourite dishes began to crowd their table, one at a time.

“I also happen to know you better than most, Sakura-chan,” Kakashi said, his voice soft and smile softer. She gaped at him over a steaming plate of takoyaki. She wasn’t sure why she was so surprised; they really _did_ know each other quite well, despite recent events and the revelations they had brought her.

He didn’t seem to notice; instead, he was already tucking into the bowl of tako wasabi, rolling a bite for himself before doing the same for her. Her mouth was agape as he held it out to her, his eyebrow quirked up in amusement. When she didn’t move, he leaned forward and pressed the nori to her lips until she obligingly parted them wider and took the small roll into her mouth.

Her cheeks went hot again as her lips brushed over his thumb and forefinger, and suddenly she was very aware that they had maintained steady eye contact through that entire bizarre exchange, and then the heat of the octopus was hitting the back of her throat and she was coughing uncontrollably. It was horribly embarrassing, especially when a small piece of octopus flew out from her mouth and landed in Kakashi’s drink.

“Adorable,” he said with a dry look before using his clean chopsticks to fish the piece out of his glass.

“Spicy,” she choked out between dry coughs.

They fell into a more comfortable banter after that, things feeling much more normal to her. She lamented in his lightning-quick bites, and he judged her taste for fried foods. When they finished their drinks, fresh ones came without delay, which Sakura found suspicious but not enough so that she cared to complain about it.

“So, are you finally going to tell me what all this is about?” he asked with sharp, gleaming eyes. Too sharp, she thought, given the amount of drinks they’d shared.

“All of what?” she asked around a large bite of tofu.

“Your sudden interest in knowing me _better than most_ , your concern for my dating life, and terrorizing poor Iruka,” he said, somehow managing to look more and more mischievous with each item on the list.

“I did not terrorize anyone,” she said, pointing her chopsticks rather rudely at him. He swatted them down with his own, knocking them out of her hand.

“You certainly did, but that’s not the point.” She watched forlornly as one of them rolled off the table to the ground before fixing him with her most vicious glare. He ignored her. “This is about those _surprising things_ you’ve been hearing,” he said knowingly; challengingly. She stared him down, wondering if it was worth it to try and play dumb. Something told her it absolutely was not.

“Could be,” she said vaguely with a small shrug. Before he could say anything else, the waiter came back, this time with a single slice of cake. “Oh, I don’t think we ordered this,” Sakura said pleasantly until she looked up at the waiter’s face and saw the young man who had once been behind the bar. His eyes were fixed on Kakashi, his ears as red as ever.

“It’s on the house,” he said, placing it down in front of Kakashi, “Hokage-sama.”

“Ah, you don’t have to do that. I’m just a regular patron, like everyone else,” Kakashi said with his signature eye crease. The waiter _actually giggled_ , making Sakura nearly upchuck all the food she’d just consumed.

“Well, you didn’t seem to mind cashing in your title to get a table,” he said playfully. Kakashi chuckled.

“Fair enough. Thank you, Sousuke-kun,” he said with a nod to the young man. Sakura watched as _Sousuke-kun_ tripped over himself all the way back to the bar.

“Do you just flirt with _everyone_?” she asked desperately, to both her and Kakashi’s surprise. Kakashi got a reign on his shock quicker than she did hers. _Everyone but me, anyway_ , she thought bitterly.

“Are you jealous, Sakura-chan?” he teased.

“Of course not!” she said with a loud, not at all convincing scoff. _Shit, I am totally jealous._ “It’s just—you know—you have a bit of a reputation,” she said with a small sniff, even though no one really gave a damn about his reputation.

“Oh? And what reputation is that?” he asked, that wicked gleam in his eye back in full-effect. Sakura took a sip of her drink before reaching out with a spoon to take a big bite of the crepe cake. Flirt or not, she would not deny free food. He waited patiently as she chewed on the bite for far longer than she had to. When there was nothing left to chew on and Kakashi was still waiting for her expectantly, she had no choice but to push forward.

“That you are quite…active,” she said carefully. “Sexually.”

“Ah,” he said with a slow nod, not looking terribly fazed.

“Ah?” she repeated dubiously.

“Well, I did tell you not to believe everything you hear,” he said with a sigh. “Frankly, it’s no one’s business, but I’m a grown man…” Sakura felt her cheeks burning and regretted bringing it up at all. She should have let sleeping dogs lie; even if the dog in question was Kakashi and he was lying in all sorts of places.

“So…it’s true?” she asked after a long pause. She shoved another big bite of cake in her mouth to shut herself up.

“That I have sex?” he asked.

“With your teammates,” she mumbled out around her cake.

“ _Ah_ ,” he said, looking far more amused than she was comfortable with. “ _That’s_ what it’s about.” He nodded in understanding, taking the spoon from her and digging in for a bite of his own. With another wicked glimmer in his eye, he let his mask down to take the bite, at regular speed. She felt her face ignite as she took him in.

“Wait—so they’ve all seen your face?” she asked, suddenly feeling annoyed again, even as she drank him in for the first time. He was so damned charming that it really seemed incredibly unfair that he was also _gorgeous_. Full lips, pearly-white teeth, the most _adorable_ beauty spot; he was disgustingly unjust. He laughed, flashing her a real look at the smile that always hid behind that ridiculous mask.

“Is that really your biggest concern?” he asked, a teasing smirk playing at his lips. Her mouth snapped shut when she realized she actually had much bigger and better things on her mind, none of which she thought were best brought up at a table in a crowded izakaya. Not that that had stopped them from broaching _this_ awkward conversation.

Her eyes met his, and she was suddenly finding it a little difficult to breathe. His gaze had already been so penetrating, but somehow, with the rest of his face on display to her, she found it altogether far too captivating.

Then, the waiter was back with their bill and a special smile just for Kakashi. Sakura glanced down at the tray to see a piece of paper that was blank save for a phone number. Unbelievable. Sakura scowled at the two men, once again engaged in chit-chat that resulted in Sousuke’s cheeks going bright red.

“Do you have any self-respect?” Sakura chastised as she stepped into her shoes. Kakashi didn’t grace her with a response. Instead, he waited for her to finish getting her shoes on and stepped in line with her to leave.

“See you around, Kakashi-sama!” a loud call sounded from the bar. Sakura glared at the man waving excitedly at them and wrapped her arm around Kakashi’s waist before leaning up to place a kiss low on his masked cheek. She sent one last withering glance over her shoulder to a very dejected-looking waiter. Kakashi just chuckled lowly as he dropped an arm down across her shoulders.

She had just had a free meal, and while she was pleased by that, it hadn’t erased the irritation she felt about the way it had come. Her vindication had eased it somewhat, but the smug smile she knew was lying under that mask was rubbing her the wrong way. He must have felt her ire because he was laughing softly again.

“You sure you’re not jealous?” he teased.

“You are so arrogant. Honestly. As if I would be—as if I would _want_ — _ugh!_ ” she said with a frustrated growl, shaking his arm off her shoulders. She stormed off without another word.

“Wrong way, Sakura-chan!” she heard him call out from behind her. With furiously flushed cheeks, she spun around and walked back toward him.

“I hate you,” she grumbled.

“That’s a shame,” he replied cheerfully. “I happen to be very fond of you.”

* * *

“Okay, I know we talked about this, and it’s really none of my business, but I need to know,” she blurted out as she breezed past him and into his home.

“Nice to see you again, Sakura,” he said with what she assumed was some sort of exasperated affection.

“Why teammates?” she asked. “Doesn’t that get complicated? I thought you hated complicated,” she said, frowning as she stepped out of her shoes and went straight to his kitchen to open the big bottle of wine she’d brought with her. “ _Why not this teammate_ ” is what she’d really wanted to ask.

“Because I trust them,” he said simply. She yanked the cork out of the bottle with a satisfying _pop_ and then turned to face him, wielding her corkscrew like a wand as she scoffed.

“ _Because you trust them_ ,” she echoed in disbelief before pausing. “Oh. That actually makes sense,” she said with a small frown. He was smirking at her, watching in amusement as she whirled around his kitchen in a tizzy of emotions to find two glasses for them. “So you only trust men?” she asked angrily after a moment. She’d used the time spent whirling around fruitlessly to find something else to be indignant about. He clearly thought that was hilarious, if the way he was laughing was anything to go by.

“ _No_ , Sakura, I do not only trust men,” he said with a roll of his eyes and a crooked smile on those sweet lips. She took a swig straight from the bottle. “They just happen to be around me in abundance.”

“You have female teammates,” she pointed out. His eyes met hers for a tense moment and she broke the stare to take another gulp straight from the bottle. He sighed and squeezed past her to get the glasses himself. That was probably for the best because at this rate, she was going to down this whole bottle in a matter of minutes.

“Had,” he corrected. “The Hokage doesn’t have a team,” he pointed out.

“Okay, fine, you _have_ had female teammates,” she relented, reluctantly handing him the bottle when he pointedly outstretched his hand toward it.

“To answer the question you never asked,” he said slowly as he poured the wine, “I am interested in both men and women.”

“And they have all seen your face,” she stated, feeling a little bitter. When he looked at her over his shoulder with a wry expression, she felt mildly placated.

“Yes, Sakura, they have. And now, so have you,” he said carefully as he handed her a glass. She swirled it around as she considered that.

“Why did you show me, anyway?”

“Because I trust you,” he said with a teasing smile and a small flick at her glass. She raised her eyes to his, feeling hot and short of breath. Something so simple wouldn’t have stumped her before, but suddenly _trust_ had a whole new connotation.

“You trust me,” she echoed.

“Yes, we’ve established that.”

“But you don’t flirt with me,” she said tiredly before taking another big sip from her glass. He laughed. “And you flirt _with everyone_ ,” she accused. From Iruka, to that waiter; the barista at the coffee shop across from the Hokage tower, the owner of Sakura’s favourite tea house, and the bookshop manager. He flirted with _everyone._

“I think the gossip has gotten to you, Sakura-chan,” he teased. “I promise you, there are very few people I have shown interest in.”

“I don’t think you know what flirting looks like,” she said dryly, with an arched brow. He matched her expression and held her gaze for a long moment. She turned away, feeling flustered.

“I’m not the only one,” he finally said with a long sigh. Suddenly, his mouth was at her ear as he leaned down over her shoulder to reach around her and pluck the glass from her hands. She spun around to pout after it, but she only managed to very snugly press herself against his chest. She blinked up at him, feeling very trapped, and it wasn’t really the physicality of it that had her reeling.

“Oh,” she said softly. Casual touches, familiarity and comfort, and teasing quips and smiles flashed in her mind. She had spent a lot of time and energy feeling annoyed, just to find out that he had been flirting with her the whole time?

“Oh,” he echoed before his lips were pressed to hers, and the rest of her confused thoughts were dashed. As nice as it was looking at his face, feeling it was infinitely better. His lips were soft and plump, and when she placed her hands at either side of his jaw, she marvelled at the smooth skin and the sharp contours of his face.

“I think you might actually be secretly terrible at flirting,” she whispered once his lips parted from hers.

“I think you might be secretly terrible at asking people out,” he replied, pressing another soft kiss to her mouth. She hummed happily into it.

“It wasn’t a date,” she insisted before kissing him back. “You spent the whole night chatting up some waiter,” she complained.

“Couldn’t help it,” he admitted, laughing when she roughly pinched his side, “you’re cute when you’re angry,” he finished through his chuckles. She pouted up at him angrily, which only served to make his amused smile widen. “Exactly; just like that.” She felt her cheeks flush and fought the urge to hit him again as he peppered her cheeks with small kisses.

“So you knew I was suffering this whole time?” she accused him, frowning despite how nice it felt to have his lips press against her skin in soft pecks.

“I’m the Hokage, Sakura-chan. I know most things,” he said happily. She scoffed in disbelief.

“Yamato-taichou told you, didn’t he?”

“He sure did.”

Sakura thought vaguely that she would get him back for that, but for now, she had other things to focus on; like pressing her lips to that cute, little beauty mark on Kakashi’s chin.

“Are there any other comrades I should be aware of?” she teased against his lips. She pulled away to see how adorably pink his cheeks went.

“We can discuss that another time,” he said, leaning down to capture her lips with his.

“That’s not an answer,” she whispered. He pressed his lips against hers a little more forcefully, making her dizzy.

“Do you always talk this much when you kiss?” he complained. She smiled against him and hummed her confirmation. She felt his teeth against her lip as he smirked against her. He lifted her off her feet and tight against him as he moved them out of the kitchen, shivers rolling through her at the feeling of him under her, holding her, and kissing her.

“I’ll have to do something about that,” he threatened lowly.

**Author's Note:**

> i like to imagine genma, yams and anko all sharing a celebratory drink as their scheming, gossiping minds finally reaped the reward of kakashi n sakura opening their goddamn eyes
> 
> is this a slow burn? friends to lovers? i literally don't know how to write anything else
> 
> tumblr: bl1ndbraavosi


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